What do you guys think would be the ideal boat for use just in pleasant bay? Dad and I just came up the list on a round-cove mooring...we moved the 24' to bass river last year (our old mooring in the bay wasn't working for us)...we're thinking we'll keep the 24' where it is now in bass river, but planning to get something for the bay. Thoughts? I was leaning towards a used 17' whaler. Any opinions?

If you are looking for a 17" boat I would highly recommend this one if you can find it used. I have use of one and it has served me well both inshore and offshore on the right days. Just a great platform to fly fish from. Brad Gage was a prior business owner and I believe he is now a Sage Factory Rep. They can be purchased new out of Westport, Ct.

we have a similar situation. We keep our bigger boat in Stage and have a small center console for Pleasant bay. I think you're on the rigth track with the whaler. Something in that LOA and draft would be awesome. If money were no object I would get an 18' Jones Cape Fisherman with a poling platform for Pleasant bay. Something that size would be perfect. A friend of mine had a 19' Carolina Skiff with a poling platform that was also really good on the bay although beat your brains out. The boats I would be looking out for are: 17 Whaler, 17 Wahoo, 18 Maritime skiff, 18 Seaway, maybe 19 Mako, 18 Parker, 18 Jones Bros and any other CC in that size that you like. I just named those to give you some ideas. To me draft is more important than ride in that bay. You could probably even go smaller like a Maritime 16 but you're limiting passengers if you want to do a beach ride to Nauset, . The only part of the bay that really gets rough at all is dead in the middle of Pleasant Bay proper but you wouldn't be fishing there anyway. But the whole bay has shifting bars and channels that make a shallow draft boat perfect for fishing her. There has recently been a flats boat for sale on the Cape Cod craigslist that I was considering. Perfect for skimming over bars. I grew up and continue boating and fishing on Pleasant bay so let me know if you have any other questions!!

we have a similar situation. We keep our bigger boat in Stage and have a small center console for Pleasant bay...

Appreciate the input. Our bigger boat was a pain getting in and out of the bay with all the sand moving around. Even just going past the tip of Strong Island into the main bay started getting sketchy as the sand was really choking that off last year.

I've got a growing young family so multi-function with a shallow draft is what I'm after. Thanks for the ideas.

I've been looking at boats for a while in that range and have also fished or at least taken a ride in many of the boats mentioned. From the perspective of a passenger/angler and potential buyer here are my thoughts. Mind you, I really know nothing about boats in terms of chine, draft, planing, speed, hull design etc. This is just an opinion on what I've found.

Whalers, Maritimes, and Carolina skiffs along with many other types of skiffs are not a pleasant ride in any type of chop. In fact they are downright uncomfortable and have shortened a day of fishing on more than one occassion. That being said, I find the Whalers, even a used one, to be very expensive. I do believe that Whalers are one of the better made boats among the skiffs though. The Maritime Skiffs were a rough ride but both it and the Carolina skiffs were able to run under less motor than the Whalers and were therefore a bit more affordable. Carolina skiffs looked like the hulls were made of blown glass versus a layup, which is probably why they were the cheapest I found.

The Jones Bros are a dream, there is no doubt about it, but they are quite expensive even for used ones. The ride was dry and comfortable and from my experience is one of the best northeast boats. But again, the cost...yikes!. Parkers I found to be the best of all things considered, price, power requirments, ride, fishability, etc. There are lots of used ones out there. They are generally affordable and have a nice ride, though nothing like the JB.

Having two boats might make price a consideration that's why I mention it. Not only in maintaining two boats but also on the amount of use you'll get out each. From my perspective (probably because I'm an accountant) I can't see spending $20K on a boat I'll be using less than maybe a dozen or so times per year, so price does become an issue.

I used my 18' Key Largo to great effect in Pleasant Bay ( sold it last year)- 90 hp two stroke- It was enough boat to go to Monomoy on a nice(r) day and skinny enough to run the bay.

There's a reason why you see the hard cores in Cape Codder 19s- the boat that will do it all. The guy that was building them in Dennis is now selling the molds. My Buddy's younger brother built them in Chatham for several years- if you can find a 19, you'll only need one boat.

I should have mentioned the Cape Cod 19, great boat. I think there's actually one for sale on craigslist right now. The carolina skiff will definitely beat your kidneys up. The whaler 17 and Maritime 18 are probably better choices although even the Maritimes are starting to get pretty expensive for not much more boat. Some of the Jones Bros hulls are the molds from SeaOx when they went out of business in the early 90's. I know one guy who took a SeaOx 20 and rigged it to be like a Jones. Kind of a cool idea. Key Largo's are nice boats too. Rolled edge like the maritime but a sharper bow and better ride. All the boats mentioned have a fairly shallow draft and one person could push it off a bar which could come in handy in Pleasant bay!

Although not a flats type shallow draft boat, the Stagepoint 17 has seen loads of time on the flats down here. The bow is high allowing me to stand on it and sight fish. Draft according to the builder is 11 inches with a crew of two. Weighs in at 1100 lbs. Tippet has a Honda 50. I can also attest to her sea worthiness having chased Albies through rips in three foot seas, all the while staying fairly dry. Seas any higher than that and I don't want to be out anyway! Lower gunnels allow for easy lifting of fish. I am also not in any hurry and 20 knots is plenty fast for me. A full day using only 5-8 gallons (many times less!) of fuel rounds it off cost wise. Only down fall is all the wood! Needs refinishing every four or five years. Best buy for the money used if you can find one. Easy to trailer. Tippet was five years old when purchased with the Honda for under 11K with trailer.

Phil

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So many places to fish.. friends to make.......so little time.

The Jones Bros are a dream, there is no doubt about it, but they are quite expensive even for used ones. The ride was dry and comfortable and from my experience is one of the best northeast boats.

I'll agree with you on those counts. I got my JB from the only retailer in Connecticut, and received a substantial discount because it was the previous year's demo boat. She drafts 14 inches with two passengers and the 150hp Yamaha, so she won't go bonefish skinny, but skinny enough for most northeast sightfishing stakeouts. And the ride in the chop is great...I've been able to stay and fish rips and chop that others have had to leave because the situation became less fishable for their particular watercraft. Modeled for albie chasing off the NC coast, it's great for up here.